Our lack of snow this year has allowed crews at the Sioux Falls Street Department Maintenance Complex to work on more potholes than they can usually get to during a normal winter. During the summer the department can buy hot asphalt ready to be put into cracks and holes around the city. In the winter the department loads chunks of broken hard asphalt into a recycling machine. It grinds the asphalt until it is a 300 degree mix ready to fill potholes around Sioux Falls. When weather allows, which has been almost every day this winter, crews of about 4 workers are out filling cracks and holes.
When a crew agreed to have me tag along they put me to work right away. We worked on a stretch of Louise Avenue near I-29 in Sioux Falls. With some safety gear on we started by using leaf blower to clear any dirt and debris from the pothole. Then we started the engine that runs the tacker oil. It's an oil we sprayed in the pothole to help the asphalt stick a little better.
Then we scooped our asphalt out of the truck and filled the pothole. After leveling the pothole we used a machine called the wacker packer which pushes the asphalt into the pothole. Once that was done we continued walking down the road to the next pothole.
After spending time with the crew, which I started calling, "the dream team," I can tell you first hand it is very scary working on the road when cars come speeding by. So when you see a crew out on the street working hard do what you can to slow down to avoid any close calls.
If you see a pothole problem the city wants to hear from you so they can get a crew out to fix it. Just call the pothole hotline at (605) 367-8002. You can also email: potholes@siouxfalls.org.
